How can I make my own sushi?

Question

My daughter loves it but it is pretty expensive for all it is. Do I need special equipment?

Answer 1

It is fun to make, and more fun to eat!

You will need some "sushi" rice (short or medium-grain will do, I like a brand called Nishiki, it's available everywhere here in Michigan.

Cook your rice with a bit of extra water, over very low heat a bit longer than you would normally. This will give the extra starchiness that makes it stick. Dump this into a bowl and sprinkle lightly with regular sugar and rice wine vinegar. Toss and cool, toss and cool.

For your first outing, stick with shrimp and cucumber, green onion, avocado, that faux crab stuff, and the like. Save the raw fish for another day. If you MUST have raw fish. Get tuna and sear it on all sides in a very hot pan. This will eliminate a lot of the bacteria that may be on the surface of the meat.

I won't buy fish that's in open cases, insisting on vacuum-cryo-packed and hopefully frozen like a brick stuff. Safer.

Dampen your hands make a small lum of rice and press the fish onto it. Voila! Nigiri-sushi!

Rolls are not difficult but will require sheets of Nori, an algae that is pressed and dried. Sprayed with water, it softens, is covered with rice, the fish and other ingredients are put in half of it and it is rolled as you see the nice men at the sushi bar do.

It takes a little practice, but only a little. As I said it is huge fun, can be done "assembly line" and laid out in neat little rows before your Sushi feast!

Don't forget the wasabe and pickled ginger! The horseradish powder that is rehydrated into a paste and mixed with a bit of soy sauce for dipping! The ginger 'cleanses' the palate between bites and is very refreshing.

Best wishes!

Answer 2

no you do not need expensive equipment to do it. The good thing about sushi is that it can be catered to any diet. Now I am vegetarian and I can still make it. it is a lot easier to make it if you have the special equipment. The way I do it, is to cover one side of the seaweed with the special sushi rice, then flip the entire seaweed/ rice mat over so that the rice is face down. start to roll it and add vegies and/or shrimp/fish/meat as you roll it. This is called rainbow rolls. IThe veggies and meat will be on the outside of the roll instead of inside but it will all stick together. It also makes the taste of seaweed a little more tolerable. If you prefer the seaweed on the outside, spread the rice then then add the veggies/meat then roll it up. I hope this helps.

Answer 3

You could buy a kit, but all you really need it a mat to roll it up. I buy a few at a time, they're less then a buck a piece.

A kit does have some advantaged though, most have all the supplies you need, a nice little book to show you have it done. It's the most expensive way to get supplies, but you can do it that way.

I've used almost any kind of rice, long, short, med. Do not use instate or minuet or converted rice. You WANT the rice to stick.

I cook my fish, not that I don't like raw fish, it really hard to get GOOD sushi grade fish in ND, but I've used salmon, tuna, Northern Pike, chicken, turkey, steak, shrimp, etc.

The first time you go out and buy you're supplies, plan on spending about 20 to 30 bucks. You won't use all of it, nori for example, you might use 4 sheets, and store the rest until you need it again, same thing with most of the other supplies. You'll just replace them as you use them up.

If you want step by step instructions get Sushi for Dummies. A very good book, and you'll see what supplies you really need and how to make many different styles of sushi.

Once you get the basics down, experiment with it. I'm going to try roast beef with radish tonight. If I don't like it so what? I've tried something new and didn't like it, but maybe I'll really like it. Just have fun.

Hope it helped good luck.

Answer 4

I'm an amateur sushi chef, making sushi at a Chinese restaurant.

You will need the following:
~Nori (seaweed) sheets
~Rice vinegar
~Sugar
~Short grain, white rice
~A sushi rice maker! (These are expensive and can be bought at specialty cooking/kitchen stores)
~A rice paddle
~Wooden bowl (for some reason, rice works best if mixed in a wooden bowl)
~Sushi quality fish (VERY expensive, and must be specially ordered if you don't live on a coast) OR imitation crab.
~Wasabi
~Soy sauce
~Bamboo rolling sheet, covered in saran wrap
~Cucumber
~Avacado
~Very sharp, large, non-ridged knife

There is a fantastic sushi book that you can buy from Borders. It is simply titled "Sushi" and contains a few of the things you will need to make it. There are also recipes.

A basic California roll:
1 half sheet of Nori
8 oz of (cooked) sushi rice
Imitation crab
Cucumber
Avacado
Sesame seed

Take the half sheet of nori. Spread the (very sticky) rice evenly across it. Flip it over. Spread the crab in an even line down the middle. Add another thin line of thinly sliced cucumber, and another of thinly sliced avacado, against the crab. Using your fingers, push the crab, celery, and avacado towards your palms. Then, keeping those ingredients pushed to the end, roll the nori like you would roll a piece of paper. Be careful to not smush the rice that is on the outside. Once it is fully rolled (as it is is not unrolling itself), place the bamboo rolling sheet on top. Roll the roll inside of that, keeping it in the shape you made. Then, wet your knife, cut the roll into 6-10 pieces. Cut quickly and rewet it often, without smushing the rice.

Good luck!

Answer 5

Well it's kinda hard! But I have learned and so can you!

You need to cook the rice perfect tho, that's the secret!

Buy sushi rice, seaweed paper, wasabi, soy sauce & rice vinegar at an asian market.

Now go get small FRESH chunks of tuna, salmon, shrimp, etc.... Albertson's supposedly sells "sushi quality fish." You will also need to get a cucumber, lemon, avocado, cream cheese and all the other stuff you like in your sushi.

I suggest buying a rice cooker. Do equal parts water and rice. (2 cups of water & 2 cups of rice.

Start slicing up your ingredients. Oh one more thing you will need a (i forget what they're called) bamboo roller to make your sushi.

Make it just like a burrito and use the bamboo to roll it up.

Oh you'll also need 5 parts rice vinegar, 3 parts sugar, and 1 part salt. (This is the rice vinegar that hold your rice together and makes it a little sticky!)

With practice, you'll be making sushi like a pro!

Good luck! But be warned making it can be time consuming! So sometimes I still go out and let someone else do the work! Plus there's all these special sauces they use at the restaurants, and they don't like to share their recipes! (ie, eel sauce)

Answer 6

to make sushi you must have a sushi mat like everyone said. in restaurants the mats are coated with a sheet of plastic wrap so the sushi pieces will come off easily and smoothly. most have rice on the outside. to do this lay a rice on the mat. (from your piont of view, the bamboo sticks should be going left to right or right to left).next, put a layer of seaweed over the rice. then place whatever you want on the seaweed neatly.. after you have all the ingredients you want, grab the closest side of the bamboo and roll it along with the seaweed like a scroll remembering to keep a tight grip. after you have done rolling cut the sushi into the desired size

Answer 7

I actually have my own approximation of sushi that I worked out, but it is not a traditional method. It doesn't require special equipment but it takes time.

You need: jasmine rice and a lidded pot, sheets of nori (available even here in semi-rural TN!), seasoned rice vinegar, a cookie sheet covered with plastic wrap, drained and blotted canned seafood (shrimp, crab, clams, anchovies or oysters), finely long-cut vegetables of any kind (raw-I use mushrooms and carrots mostly but it can be just about anything), spices like black pepper and ginger to sprinkle on inside of sushi roll.

Steam jasmine rice by the japanese method (low water, and rinse grain about 6X/soak for an hour, then cook and allow to finish by steaming (lid on pot) for about 15 min.)

Allow rice to cool; wearing gloves, form rice into logs that are a little shorter than the nori sheets. This is often a two person job; one makes the rice logs while the other cuts the vegetables and prepares the seafood on a plate.

Lay out three sheets of nori (or for greater structural integrity, overlap two sheets side by side). Pour small amount of seasoned vinegar over sheets and spread with fingers until evenly wet. Place rice log about 1.5" from near edge of nori and press seafood and vegetables onto it lengthwise. You can sprinkle the pepper/ginger/other spices on at this point or before they are added to the rice. Then roll from front to back over the rice log/ingredients. The nori should overlap a couple times and the slightly shorter rice log should expand slightly at the ends. The wetness of the nori should ensure a fair seal.

I don't slice these, because they aren't as tightly wrapped as those you could make using the bamboo rolls, but they taste really good to me, and I can make a LOT of them with very little ingredients.

Answer 8

If you have a local Books-A-Million they usually have a sushi making kit that's about $9 or so. I think I also saw one at Barnes-N-Noble. There's different kits. They come with the mat, not sure what else, and they give you instructions on what you'll need to get going. I love sushi as well, but instead of the fish one I like the veggie sushi.

This link will take you to images of how to make sushi. There are lots of "how tos" out there on the net.
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=how%20to%20make%20sushi&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

Here are links to a few video's online as well
http://www.eatsushi.com/demos.asp
http://www.eatsushi.com/

Answer 9

some really good answers to your question...if you are lucky enough to live near a Publix Supermarket (mostly in South) you can get some of the best freshly made (some stores have a Sushi chef behind the fish counter) and inexpensive Sushi I've found. I have been making my own for sometime and it's easy & fun. But just like schucking my own oysters; it's nice to have someone do it for you.

Answer 10

I dont know what type of sushi you like but me and my husband have made it many times. We like to make the fried shrimp tempura sushi with avacado and cucumber. You need to find all your ingredients and usually you can find them all at Publix if you have one. You need seaweed sheets, sushi rice, wasabi (if you like it), soy sauce, shrimp tempura batter mix (we buy mc cormicks), pickled ginger, toasted sesame seeds, bamboo mats, chopsticks, firm avacado, cucumber with small seeds, medium to large sized shrimp ( dont buy extra large cause it will be hard to roll), and rice vinegar. Just follow the directions on everything and cut up the veggies in the thinnest strips that you can get. If you want the rice on the outside i would recommend using a sheet of plastic wrap in between the rice and mat. If you want the rice on the inside, no problem just put it on the seaweed carefully and roll with the mat. The first roll is the most important. It will determine whether or not the roll will be tight. You will just have to try it and learn through trial and error. Have Fun!!!!

Answer 11

Su in "sushi," means "vingear," it has come to mean vinegar rice with other yummy things. Not necessarily raw fish.

My husband is Japanese and I have studied sushi and taught a class on it at the Wild Oats. The key to great sushi is great sushi rice!

Here is a recipe for sushi rice:
1 cup rice
2 1/2 Tablespoons sushi vinegar (4% acidity)
1/2 or 1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

(You may need more rice depending upon the number of people you are feeding. Each sushi maki roll needs about 3/4 cup.)

Dissolve sugar and salt in vinegar is a small saucepan stirring often. Pour over cooked rice and gently fold with a very wet spoon. Repeatedly wet spoon while folding to prevent smashing the rice. Allow rice to cool and dry. (You can employ children to use a paper bamboo fan to cool the rice - - Traditional methodology).

Place nori sheet down on counter or cutting board, or if using a bamboo sushi mat roller, on top of the mat. Cover nori 2/3 with cooled rice using very wet fingers to move the rice evenly. Do not smash the rice. Each kernal of rice should be whole and shiny.

Arrange sliced avacado, whole pieces of imitation crab meat, and thin strips of cucumber horizontallly across sushi. You can add some mayonaise and/or furikake for seasoning. Firmly but gently roll the sushi from the rice end first with the nori end not covered in rice wrapping around last. Make sure your roll is firm and tight. You can use a bamboo mat. Always keep the nori sheets dry.

Always keep your knife clean and wet. Do not use a serrated edge knife. Slice the sushi roll once in the middle. Cut each half in half again. Cut each fourth in half again! You made sushi maki! Good job! Serve with miso soup and salad!

I don't use a bamboo sushi mat roller. An even easier way to make authentic Japanese sushi:

Chirashi zushi:

Prepare all the inside ingredients for your sushi rolls.
You can also use some pink pickled ginger
Prepare sushi rice recipe
When rice is cooled put it into bowls and top with avocado, cucumber, pickled ginger, imitation crab meat, tiny sliced green onion and cut up nori in thin tiny strips to put on top last, sprinkle with roasted sesame seeds! You have sushi in a bowl! Its delicious! and less of a pain in the *** than sushi maki rolls, too!

Proper way to prepare soy sauce for sushi:

Combine 1 tablespoon soy sauce and tiny dab of wasabi. Stir with chopsticks in small dish. Serve by pouring over chirashi zushi or by dipping sushi maki or nigiri into the soy sauce! Enjoy!